Matt yammers on about cartoonist MILTON CANIFF and lesser topics for the edification of millions.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

STEVE CANYON SCREENING

The latest Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation was held earlier this month at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The Air Force Museum Theatre hosted three days of aviation flicks, along with special presenters. While some went gaga for "Top Gun" in 3-D, I was excited for the screening of a "Steve Canyon" episode in the IMAX theater. This was a different location for the festival than four years ago, the last time they screened a "Canyon" episode. You can read about that event here.

The episode screened was Operation Diplomat, episode 11 of the 1958-59 series. Steve is taking a U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan when Commies force his plane down in unfriendly territory. Watch out, Steve! This episode is available on Volume One of the DVD series. They had planned a bonus episode, but we ran out of time. The Reel Stuff organizer brought up the idea of having a "Steve Canyon" marathon or weekend sometime at the museum.

John Ellis from the Milton Caniff Estate was on hand to present the film, show us behind the scenes photos from the making of the episode, and to answer questions. This guy has been living and breathing the "Steve Canyon" series for eight years, so there's no greater authority on the show.﻿

DVDs of the "Steve Canyon" TV series are now on sale in the gift shop of the USAF Museum. ﻿

After the show, John and I talked Caniff. He gave me a sneak peek at the long awaited Volume 3.

Yes, readers, it exists and it looks great. Pictured are the discs that are nearly the final version. John is doing what he can to make Volume 3 the best package possible. ﻿

One of the delays has been continually finding new things worth including, such as these "making of" photos. It's amazing how much information he's uncovered for what was thought to be a "lost" TV series.

Joined by fellow Caniffite Ted Haycraft, we managed to grab lunch and chat about comics, John's movie career and more Caniff!